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Rat, Louse and a Mouse.
The sun is just setting. It is dusk. Going down into the deep blue of Waterdeep’s dock. Lanterns lit up hung from the tiled roofs of this more affluent sector. A place with towers that overlook the sea lit up in the night, nobles dining at the higher points. Workers toiling below. Mouse looked down, they were quite high up. Standing on the tiles of a slanted rooftop. ‘Just hold on to the wooden bit at the top right Mousey.’ Lucky looked to him, her matted auburn hair covering her large eyes as her grimy fingers gripped the top of the roof, moving along to the right. Giving him a reassuring smile. She extends her hand and helps him slowly shimmy along the roof next to her. He smiles and looks at her. Her eyes shining blue with the sea as the setting sun fell behind her, smiling as they hung hundreds of feet in the air. ‘Hurry along or I’m leaving ya two behind!’ Rat-Feet called from ahead. Mouse took a deep breath and went along, a bit further and a loose tile gave way and he yelped. Looking down as it plummeted and… fell into a cart. A man looked up. They had to be faster, they shimmied and reached a platform with a large window against the wall. The three of them worked quickly, Lucky took a block and small hammer and chipped the paint around the window. Mouse jammed his knife in the places he could before Rat got the pry bar ready. When enough paint and any possible openings have been made he stuck it in and they all helped to pry the large window open. One by one they slipped into the warehouse. They mostly targeted trinkets that were going to be sold at the market. Value to weight ratio was very important for three small children. Stuffing pockets and satchels with loot. Their small grubby fingers taking what they could, large eyes looking out for any sign of movement. ‘Hey, hold on…’ Lucky Louse said as she spotted something. A whole section filled and filled with boxes of Giardano’s Chocolate. ‘No time for that Lucky…’ Rat said but he hesitated. They all looked at each other. Soon, they were sitting by the large shelf, open boxes and wrappers scattered around. Eyes lit up with childish glee as they ate the finest chocolate in Faerun. Lucky Louse was actually quite pretty despite her name, she chose it because she always says it’s better to be unnoticed like a louse. As for Rat-Feet he had quite hairy feet even for a young human, he was a bit older and their natural leader. He had a charming face if not for his prominent two teeth, with long well taken care of black hair. While Mouse, he had an olive complexion but was a handsome boy, if not the smallest and scrawniest. He had large almost feminine eyes that could spot the smallest movement, unnaturally so. For it was him that patted them both. ‘They’re coming.’ Rat raised an eyebrow, guards were usually loud but this time there was… ‘So that’s what it was, cockroaches in the cellar.’ 'A voice said from above, a crouching man was at the top of the shelf behind them. A hood over his head as he looked down to the three. Rat stood up and placed his arms out to Mouse and Lucky. He used his hand to sign a few symbols, Thieves Cant. ‘We are friends, share in our bounty.’ But the figure just looked at them. '‘Listen kids, you three took something you don’t understand so I need you to empty your bags. Then I need one of you all to come with me, to see Xanathar.’ He took out his dagger then was gone. Before he vanished Rat turned to them with a look of complete fear. They ran, Lucky and Mouse crawled under the shelf and further along as Rat being a bit larger turned to the side. Mouse kept running pulling on Lucky’s wrist. He looked to the right and saw Rat running, and a few paces behind him the man was walking, but unnaturally fast. They passed one shelf, the man was gone. Then another shelf and the man reappeared but closer. He seemed to vanish and reappear, never running, just hood down and coming slowly closer. They ran and ran until they reached the barrels and railing next to the window. Mouse helped Lucky to climb first, pushing her up the large barrels for her to scramble up and over the railing to the platform with the window. He had to make sure she gets out safely. Then climbing up behind her as he looks back. Rat was just about to reach. Mouse took his own satchel and threw it as far as he could hopefully that would appease their assailant. The little bag was gone just as it landed. Then the man reappeared grabbed Rat’s shoulder and also cut his bag away. ‘Just one more.’ He looked up at Lucky as he held the dagger to Rat’s throat. Mouse stood on the barrels, halfway between the two, and looked up at her. Her fingers curled around her bag as her eyes welled up, she stood at the top of the railing and turned to the window, then Lucky vanished. Mouse’s eyes opened, he looked back in fear and saw Rat’s face turn dark. Rat elbowed the man and slipped under, Mouse looked to both of them but then climbed the barrels and followed Lucky. ‘Mouse! Wait!’ Rat called out. He could feel the man behind him, he could almost feel the dagger that was going to pierce him but instead he just kept climbing and at the top of the platform by the window he looked down. Rat and the man were gone. He was alone in the warehouse. Confused and shocked he walked out to the window to find Lucky curled up at the top of the roof, looking out to Waterdeep. ‘Why Mouse? Why didn’t you give him the stupid bag? Rat is gone! I don’t…’''' She looked up at him with her beautiful hazel eyes crying as she took out a little medal with a dark disk on it.'' '' ‘'This is'' my ticket out of here Adrian, I can’t take it anymore… One day maybe you’ll understand. I’m sorry Adrian… You know I always cared for…’ She stood up and walked up to him, trying to reach out and hug him but he pushed her. ‘Look you stupid bitch! They took Rat, who knows what…’ She then started to cry, she looked so young like that and little Adrian hugged her. He held her head to his chest as her tears soaked his raggedy tunic. Straightening her messy hair from her eyes. After a long while she breaks away, unable to look him in the eye. He helped her sneak back to the Tower’s Inn where she was staying in the basement. Crawling through a lower window they managed to jimmy open... ...even without Rat’s pry bar. It took them nearly three times the usual to get it open. Not saying a single word. Their hands touched as they opened the window. He looked into her eyes, she looked away. As Mouse was leaving the bar through the window... He saw him come out of the tavern as usual at this hour. His uncle, the man who has been ‘providing for them’ as he so often reminds him and his mother ever since his ‘good for nothing’ father left them. He was drunk again. No more secrets, today he was going to figure everything out. Mother had been having strange bruises and Mouse suspected his uncle, an alcoholic and a member of the City Guard. Adrian’s ‘dirty Calishite’ father used to owe his uncle a favor, maybe he was covering something up for him and his father’s disappearance meant his uncle can no longer spend so much money on his various hobbies. Dirk, he hated his uncle’s name. Fucking Dirk, like his father used to sigh. Dirk Darion. His mother Janette Darion gets ill occasionally being rather frail, but she earned a little teaching children classical Celestial. A rare and less in demand language now that most Clerics prefer to teach in common to make it more accessible. And those who could afford teaching exotic languages usually found tutors more qualified than his mother. Their little world of thievery and adventure seemed like a second life to Adrian. No longer was he just a troubled boy but he had a nickname and friends. Or had that anyways… was it really all gone? Without Rat… what was he saying!. He needs to find Rat even if he has to do it himself. He had a list of missions, he organized them as he stealthily followed his Uncle. Starting and investigation journal in his head: 1) Discover the disappearance of Rat Feet 2) Talk to Lucky Louse and the meaning behind the medallion 3) Most importantly, trail fucking Dirk and find out if he’s been hurting mum Good, he has a mission now. Mouse is on the job, things will be fine. He then got side tracked thinking about his investigative journal as he crept along the alleyways. Imagining himself as a detective, long coat and saving the day. He couldn't believe that his eyes could lose a target, he lost concentration. This wasn't like him. He ran out to the streets, where'd he go? Calm down Adrian, he's going home. Just head there. Adrian hurried along the crowded market. There was a sale going on, he bumped into a man that was carrying a large stack of waffles on a plate. The man cursed him as Adrian slipped to the side. Past diners in a small cafe and under a table, through a crowd haggling over Silk Scarves from Amn, over a cart pulled by a fat ox and through the winding cobblestone streets that curved up to where his home was. People's clothing hung from lines and barrels and boxes lined the streets filled with wares to be moved to the dock or market. This is it, he'll catch the bastard in the act. 'I'm going to bed! Leave me alone!' He heard him bellow drunkenly from the top of the stairs. 'Enough Dirk! Stop this at once!' Adrian clenched his fists and ran up the stairs. 'Leave her alone fucking Dirk!' He shouted out as he saw his mother helping her brother along to bed. Carrying his drunken body before he broke away. 'What did you say to me Kid?' Adrian looked down. 'Leave mum alone...' She then put a hand on her brother's shoulder and helped him along to bed. Adrian waited outside his room, sitting outside the room. Surely if he investigated better he'd catch him. He's the bad guy. She then came out and walked down the stairs slowly, carefully holding the railing before going to the small table in the kitchen. She sits down and pats the stool next to her. Adrian climbs up. 'No one's been hurting me Adrian... I know you've seen these...' She raises her arm and shows the bruises, they've been getting worse. 'Did you do that to yourself then mother?' 'His mind was racing through the possibilities, they looked like the marks he'd get when rough housing, or when Rat rather, pinched his arms really hard. ''I tried to hide it from you but you see everything don't you my little Eagle.' She looked down and teared up. Adrian then stood up and tried to hug his mother, but she was too big to pull against his tiny chest. 'The Cleric's say its an affliction in the blood. I'll be all right I just need to be careful all right sweetie? ' Its just that I bruise and when I get hurt it takes a while for the cuts to close.'' He didn't understand this, what could he do about this. 'Then I'll be a Cleric mother. I already know Celestial I learned it from you.' ' He smiles and runs his fingers through his mother's hair and she smiles at him, wiping away her tears. ''You have such beautiful eyes Adrian, just like your fathers.' She puts a hand on his cheek and kisses his forehead. Then takes his hand and carefully walks up the stairs. 'Time for bed now.' Adrian went to sleep. The next morning he went to the Tower's Inn to find Lucky. Maybe he can convince her to join him in the case to find out where Rat went. Come to think of it, they always met outside the Tower's Inn. He doesn't even know where Rat lives. He knocked once on the window with their signature knock and whistle. No response. He waited outside. It started to rain. He tried again. Then he walked into the inn. Hair matted down from the rain. 'Is Mister Willow here?' He piped out at the bar. Sara Willow was Lucky's real name. Her father worked behind the bar usually at the Tower's Inn. The person at the bar, he didn't recognize. 'Nah laddy, them two gone by dawn. Said they're moving out to Neverwinter or sometin' like dat.' Adrian looked down. 'Oh, all right... thank you.' He sneaked past and went downstairs to the basement where she used to creep in to. Where Sara lives, or used to live. Looking for any sign of her, a note, a mystery something. He noticed the bedding and rather poor decor of the basement. They were living in worse conditions than he though. Everything seemed to be packed away and empty. He searched around for a note, anything, but couldn't find a trace. Why didn't she leave him something? He didn't understand. Why would she leave him. Just then he heard a noise as the door to the cellar opened. Adrian found anything he could hide in, opening a barrel and slipping inside while closing the lid. There were small bits of rotted cheese at the bottom. The man with the hood came in, Rat walking in front of him. 'I promise, its here. This...' 'Would you like me to do that thing again boy? You better be right' 'No, sir, she lives here I'm sure of it.' Rat had his hair shaved, he was bald and shivering as the man with the hood walked around the room he kneels down and places his fingers down to the floor. Adrian could see from a tiny hole in the barrel. He could hear them shift he looked at the man, trying to see his face. But he was wearing a mask. He could only see two holes for eyes, and a smile on the white mask like a crescent moon. 'I smell something...' The man walked slowly, but away from Adrian. He held his breath. The man was nearly to the wall on the far end, then vanished. Mouse closed his eyes. 'A little mouse...' Then he saw the bloodshot red eyes of the man behind the mask as he peered into the hole of the barrel. The lid clattering away and him being lifted up by the scruff of his neck. He threw him to the floor. 'Where is the girl little mouse.' The man said as he crouched over Adrian. Adrian looked to Rat, who was just looking to the floor. The man then stuck his dagger to Adrian's throat. 'She's gone... she didn't even leave anything behind she...' The man could see the emotion in Adrian's voice and knew him to be telling the truth. He laughed, a dark high pitched cackle as his eyes shut in joy behind his mask. 'Your little girlfriend leave you all alone? Aww, that's why you should have stuck by your friend. He wouldn't have broken your heart. But you left him there with me didn't you little mouse.' He puts an arm around Rat and pinches his cheek. Rat just looked down. 'Good night mouse' The man raised his arm to throw a dagger. But Rat held his arm.' 'Looks like someone wants a repeat.'' He quickly turned Rat around, grabbing his wrist and stuck his dagger underneath one of Rat's nails, pulling quickly backward as he noticed two of his fingers had missing nails. It flew off and Rat screamed. Adrian was afraid. Mouse was afraid, he got up and ran. He ran and ran and ran. The image of Rat screaming and his nail being cut off his fingers replaying in his mind. Some time passes, he tried looking for Rat and returned to the tavern to ask about news on the Willows but they turned him away now. They knew people were asking about them, he even tried asking his uncle who was part of the guard if he knew anything but that idiot barely knows how to put his trousers on correctly. He did have a lead though, one of the Cleric's did say he treated someone with missing nails. He wanted to report it but he was a priest of Shar that worked in the docks. One that according to the notes he stole from Dirk's desk had ties to the shadier parts of town. Adrian waited everyday outside the clinic where this priest operates just in case the man brought Rat back to him again. Many days passed but no leads, then one day everything changed. He came back home and went up the stairs to hear his uncle crying. Stepping into mother's room, she was there, not moving. The Clerics say her blood illness got her, she had a tiny bleed in her brain during her sleep that built up. 'She died peacefully they said' His uncle said as they were lowering her into the ground in the City of the Dead. 'If it wasn't for your father the dirty Calishite he's the one who...' His uncle started crying. Adrian tried to put a hand on his arm but he moved away. 'My only family, my sweet sister... She always took care of me, the useless fuck that I am.' He just put his large meaty hands on his face and cried. Adrian wanted to do something. To solve something, to be able to fix something and understand it but what could he do. He's just a Mouse, all of this was beyond his understanding. His mother told him to remain calm when trying to understand the letters in Celestial, that they all have a meaning and can be organized. Comparing common letters to the list and making neat organized tables for him to follow. He can't follow this, where's the logic in all of this? What could he do. When Mother Lisa came saying she used to know Adrian's father and that she would like to accept Adrian into an orphanage where he could maybe have a chance at becoming an acolyte Adrian was excited. He could be a cleric and save people who were sick like his mother. His uncle was more than happy to get the sad reminder of Adrian off his hands, in return for a small donation from Mother Lisa. She insulted him and gave him a small bag of coin. Adrian also was excited to learn that he was going to Neverwinter, where Sara was. Or so he thought. Time passes, he meets Sigmund a young boy who also has no parents. They become close friends. He got so caught up in trying to learn clerical spells, secretly looking for Sara that he tried to forget about other details in his life. The death of his mother and the situation that Rat might be in. He just assumed in the deepest of his heart that Rat was probably dead by now and he tried to forget about how he failed him. He was just a small boy... But he grew up, he joined the Order of the Guantlet. He never was good with spells but was trained in the use of the rapier and his keen eye and skill for telling lies meant that one day Paladin Gabriel, Whitehawk of the Order asked him to follow him for a special job. He lead him into a side room with a brick floor and a single chair. The room seemed like a dungeon as the man was chained up and left there, a bit bloody and beaten. 'Gabriel, what is this?' Adrian says, now in his early twenties. 'This man is a Red Wizard of Thay. A sect of them went rogue even for their standards. Remember the deathfog in the Merchants Quarter that killed a family? The barrels were linked to this man and we believe there are more. He wouldn't speak in a Zone of Truth and this is a long shot but... see if you can do something. I have faith in your Adrian.' He put his guantlet on Adrian's shoulder and walks out. Someone left open barrels of Deathfog, a colorless and odorless gas that slowly creeps out and starts suffocating people around them. Sometimes the effect is so subtle that it can be unnoticed and kill people in their sleep. Adrian examines the man, he noticed his boots and pendant around his neck. He walked around him and noticed the marks on his fingers. Then he looked to his face and reached for the pendant, opening it to see a drawing of a woman and a child with their faces cut out. Adrian pulled up a stool and sat facing the man. 'What's your name?' The wizard looked up at him 'What, so that brute beats me then they bring pretty boy to chat me up? Get bent.' 'You cut out their faces but kept the pendant, why?' The man doesn't say anything. 'There's a mark on your ring finger, you were married weren't you. No, you are married.' Adrian went down and pulled away both of the man's boots. He tried to kick him away. 'Shh, it's all right.' He reached inside the boot and found the cut out faces. 'You're a lucky man, to have a wife and child.' 'You leave them out of this you hear me? You sick fuck, why don't you just beat me.' 'I can help you. Just tell me where the Deathfog is hidden and we'll make sure they're safe.' 'You don't understand anything, He's always watching. If I talk He'll know He...' Then his right arm shook and his neck craned. The wizard shouted in Infernal. No! I didn't say anything please. I'm sorry. Adrian understood Infernal, he learned three languages in his studies. He quickly got up and knocked on the door. Father Gabriel came in and noticed what was happening. He started chanting in Celestial as Adrian ran out to get a map. When he came back Gabriel was holding the man's right arm which was now black and had a shadowy smoke rising up from it. Adrian pulled out the map in front of him. 'They're here. My family here.' The man points repeatedly to a place in the Gash and Adrian marks it. The demonic arm breaks free from Gabriel and reaches for the mans throat. 'The Deathfog! WHERE IS IT!' Adrian shouts and the man points to a place in the Merchant's Quarter. As his own arm squeezes around his throat, crushing it in an instant as he falls limp. They sent men to the area with the Deathfog and Adrian himself with Sigmund and a few others went to the gash. But there was no one in the house the man mentioned. Not a single person, not much furniture either. Just a black burnt out fireplace with a slow rising and thick black smoke that took a very long time to put out. The barrels were found and disposed of before anyone can use them to hurt more people. Over a while Gabriel brought him to help interrogate more people. Criminals, devils in disguise. Most of the time he would just watch and listen and tell Gabriel outside if they were telling the truth or not. He sincerely hopes he is right on most of these decisions but the Whitehawk seemed to trust his judgement. Sometimes, they were a bit rougher with the prisoners than it seemed right to be. But they convinced themselves that time is always important. Until that day where he never did it again. Adrian shut the door behind him. Went into his routine 'We're just going to talk for a little you and I...' Adrian looked up and was shocked, sitting in the chair was Rat. He knew him straight away. 'Rat... I...' The bald man laughed and looked up at him with bloodshot eyes. 'I came here looking for you and get caught, and who do they send to interrogate me. You! Mouse! This must be the fate of Mask. He brought us together, why did you leave me behind Mouse. WHY!?' Rat grew to be quite large, already taller than them in childhood. He was a brute of muscles and height, but he still had those large two front teeth... his once charming face now scarred and bloated. His long well groomed hair gone. His eyes that lit with joy as they ate delicacies on rooftops now tired and bloodshot, like the masked man's. 'Have you bothered to look for any of us? While you stayed here and pretended to be a holy man.' 'I did Rat, I thought you were dead and I couldn't find any trace of Lucky I mean I...' It felt like Adrian was being interrogated. 'You're one of us, you always will be, take that off.' He pointed with his chin to Adrian's acolyte sash with the symbol of Lathander on it, Mother Lisa's God. 'This is who I am now Rat, I...' 'Liar, Liar, Liar!' He shook in his chair. 'They whisper to me, They know.' Then Rat vanished, just like the Masked Man once did. He was out of his bindings and stood in front of Adrian. Then Rat hugged him. 'Adrian, you're like a brother to me, but to find her I have to join them and to join Xanathar. There is a price we all must pay.' Adrian then felt a dagger pierce him in the lower back. 'You're my only friend in the world Mouse, Rat and Mouse. I have to kill a friend to join... to become like them. To finally find her.. They tell us to kill someone dear to us..' .''Fight with every advantage you can get.'' Gabriels words... He was bleeding, he fell to his knees as Rat looked away from him. His arms behind his back. Rat was larger, stronger, faster and probably knew some dark magic now as well. The only advantage Adrian had was that Rat wasn't very mentally stable right now... and he knew the things that... 'She always liked me more you know Jacob... Sara and I, we're meant to be together. That's why she was all right with leaving you behind. She doesn't love you Jacob, you should just accept it.' Adrian said as he crawled towards Rat. He stiffened and clenched his fists. 'No.. when I find her she'll explain and its probably because her father made her leave. She's...' 'Who'd like an ugly guy like you anyways? With your large front teeth, ugly like a rat.' 'You're right... you're always right Mouse. I'm ugly, I don't deserve anything good.' 'That's right... Shhh.' Adrian reaches for the dagger that fell from Rat's hand and takes it. Then Rat noticed and turns, his eyes wide as he leaps on top of Adrian. 'You sneaky little fucker I'll! I'll...' Adrian wrapped an arm around Rat, pulling him down against him as he pushed the dagger deep into his neck. His arm wrapped around his chest as if he was hugging Rat as he pushed deep into his carotid. Then pulled to the side. Rat's dark blood slowly poured out over Adrian, drenching his face and covering them both. Until Father Gabriel came in with two guards and carried him away. 'Don't let Lisa see you like this... its all right.' He put his heavy gauntlet on Adrian's shoulder as he sobbed uncontrollably like a child. Gabriel placed a hand over the wound in his back and it healed pretty quickly. Rat didn't pierce him deep at all, it was a shallow wound. Over the next few months Adrian went to Waterdeep, interrogating people using documents he stole from Father Gabriel letting people believe he was a Whitehawk in the Order of the Guantlet. He tracked down the masked man. It was easy now, he was driven, he knew how to talk to people and what clues to follow. It was a child's play. And... maybe he wanted to be found. Adrian sat at the table, he was in the most prestigious Inn in Waterdeep. At the top of a high tower that looked over the dock. Selune's Finger it was called. It had a magnificent view of the rooftops Rat, Lucky and himself jumped over on the fateful night where they met the Masked Man. Adrian followed his leads to one Hiram Hallali, a man who made payments to the Priest of Shar so many years ago. A rich man who lived in the Noble Quarter, Adrian broke into his mansion and found a dresser full of white masks with crescent moon smiles. He trailed him to this inn and waited. Hiram pulled up a chair and sat with Adrian next to the window. 'Bravo little Mouse, Xanathar is pleased. Your friend, the Rat. I thought he was the strong one but you... You surely are surprising.' Hiram was a dark skinned man with wrinkles on his face, he looked innocent. Like somebodies grandfather maybe. Someone who'd tell you a story and pour you tea. But when he put that mask on, he moved like a monster. Adrian said nothing. 'You know, you qualify to join. We can teach you so much, even where your little girlfriend went.' That threw him off his game a little. Adrian raised an eyebrow. Then, in that moment he saw. He knew. The man was playing him, he was playing him like Adrian played Rat. His eyes saw through it all, Waterdeep, this place. This world. It was about predator and prey, who plays with whom. He used to be a Mouse. Not anymore. Adrian Blackwater is an Eagle and he knew he had to not fall into this man's game. 'Fuck you.' He raised the dagger hidden just under his wrist and stabbed him right in the throat. 'Didn't expect that when you wanted to play your game did you, you fucker?' Adrian whispered as the whole of the inn looked towards him. He chose this seat because it was facing away from the crowd. He stood up and slowly opened the door to the balcony of the tower. He looked out over Waterdeep. He saw Sara's face. 'I'm sorry Rat, Lucky. I'll be brave now.' And he stepped over the balcony and plummeted to the waters below. 'I'm sorry, I can't be Mouse anymore...'